Ideas: March 2007 Archives

So much of a review is spent on exposition, it occurs to me now that I've covered a recital by acclaimed pianist Ivan Moravec without filing a review for the print version the next day. I took a digital camera with me instead. I thought I was going to take a few snaps, but then realized I could do so much more. So during the intermission (this recital was last night), I decided to capture some of the recital and post it to my blog. I don't know if I was doing something I shouldn't have. I didn't ask for permission. And then I asked three different people to give me their thoughts on the performance. I think I might be on to something far more interesting than a print-only review. Instead of spending so much time of exposition, I can devote time to analysis, interpretation and commentary -- the things beyond the news, as Mitchell Stephens pointed out in his homerun article for the Columbia Journal Review last month. One of the people I interviewed was a 13-year-old pianist named Sharon Mays. She gave me her perspective. This approach might be just the thing for engaging the music and the community at the same time.

Here's the post:

I ran into Sharon Mays at the Ivan Moravec recital tonight. Her father does all the recording for the Savannah Music Festival, which will later be heard on Georgia Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio throughout the year. Sharon, a 13-year-old pianist, just won the Georgia Music Educators Association's piano competition for 8th graders in December. Given her prestige, I thought it would interesting to have Sharon blog with me later in the week to give us her perspective on what's happening at the Telfair Academy, where all the chamber music is taking place. She hasn't committed yet, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I also asked her to tell me what she thought of Moravec's recital and what she expects to hear in upcoming classical concerts (she gets to go to all of them thanks to Dad). For Sharon, Moravec had "a great dymanic range."